Critical Faculty
by kate-dammit-run
Summary: When the newly crowned king of Kazahrus, King Vanya, finds himself needing assistance, he reaches out to the people who had saved his life back in New York. Can Jane, Kurt and the team help the young royal? Or will the events in the troubled nation be more dangerous and deadly than they thought? Conspiracy, action, humor, romance and a lot of explosions!
1. Chapter 1

**Critical Faculty**

 **Summary:** When the newly crowned king of Kazahrus, King Vanya, finds himself needing assistance, he reaches out to the people who had saved his life back in New York. Can Jane, Kurt and the team help the young royal? Or will the events in the troubled nation be more dangerous and deadly than they initially thought?

 **AN:** This is a short multi-chapter fic with Jane and Kurt as the main characters but it will include almost everyone. Since Kazahrus was a fictional country they created on the show, I've made up some city names to go along.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _Royal Residence_  
 _21 August_  
 _7:30am_

Vanya Petrushev still woke up every morning believing it was all a dream, that this morning would be the one when he wakes up in their small Brooklyn apartment, find his mom in the kitchen with her coffee, and rush off to school to make that 8am class he regretted registering for.

But it was not a dream. Rubbing his tired eyes, he looked around him at the ridiculously lavish bedroom that was easily twice the size of their apartment back in New York and sighed. That was his life now; King Vanya Petrushev Valdemaras, the newly crowned King of Kazahrus.

The journey to his coronation had not been easy. Not everyone in Kazahrus was excited to have him claim his right to the throne, especially not his uncle Cyrus. But Kazahrus was a proud country— proud of his traditions, its history and its heritage— and Vanya was undeniably the rightful heir to the throne and they were not about to to put an end to a dynasty that proudly sat at the throne for centuries.

His uncle was honorably offered the chance to leave the country unpunished and seek asylum anywhere in the world he wanted, and while not everyone was fond of Vanya as an individual, his coronation had gone unopposed, at least not publicly or too vocally. His uncle still had loyalists in the country, and Vanya did have plenty who doubted him— his right to the throne, his ability to rule and his loyalty to a country he had never felt affiliated with— but with the right people by his side, mainly his father's most loyal advisor, Alexi Broskov, the young king had managed to maintain peace and stability in the country for the past six months.

"You have a meeting with the Minister of Trade this morning," Alexi said as they sat at the breakfast table, joined by his secretary and his mother, "and the ambassadors from Germany and Spain are scheduled for afternoon visits at the Ladka Hall."

Yasmine Petrushev studied her son closely, in awe of how much he'd grown over the past year, so proud of the man he'd become. But as she did, a cloud of fear sat above her.

"Aren't we going to do something about those letters?" Yasmine said, interrupting Alexi, a man although was loyal to the current king's father, she had loathed for almost twenty years. He was the man that had threatened her to say quiet after King Ivan had raped her.

"Mother," Vanya said, shaking his head.

"Ms. Petrushev," Alexi said, "like I told you, those letters aren't something we should bother with—"

"They're death threats to my son!" Yasmine snapped, "you will take them seriously, Alexi!"

"These things happen all the time," Alexi said in his cool, emotionless tone, "we have analysts who have studied them and concluded they were not actually threatening."

"I'm sorry if this does not reassure me," Yasmine said, "I think we should—"

"Mom," Vanya said calmly, "I don't want you worrying—"

"But I do worry, Vanya," Yasmine replied, "please—"

"If our secret service analysts say there's nothing to worry about—"

"The government is riddled with people who want you gone," Yasmine argued, "how can you trust any of them. Please, Vanya, do it for me. Get someone we trust to look into this."

* * *

 _Five Hours Later_

 _New York City, USA_  
 _Weller Residence_  
 _21 August_  
 _5:30 am_

Kurt Weller's phone buzzed on the nightstand next to him and it was not his alarm clock— that had another thirty minutes before it went off.

Next to him, Jane grumbled, burying her face into her pillow and kicking him under the covers, getting him to wake up and check it— putting an end to the annoying sound.

"I hate your phone," she sighed into her pillow as she felt him shift next to her and reach for it.

"Weller," Kurt spoke hoarsely into the phone.

"Weller, it's Congressman Matthew Weitz," came the unexpected voice from the other end, "I need to meet with you urgently. You and Jane and the rest of your team. I'll be at the NYO at 7. Don't be late."

"Are you serious? Weitz—"

But the congressman had already hung up.

"Unbelievable," Kurt mumbled, sitting up in bed and clicking through his phone to find Reade's number.

"What going on?" Jane sighed next to him.

He leaned downed and kissed her forehead. "I'll find out," he whispered, "go back to sleep."

Kurt pulled himself out of bed and stepped outside with his phone in his hand.

 _Just got a call from Weitz. What's going on?_

He sent the text to Reade, and knowing he was not going back to bed either way, he made his way to the kitchen and started on coffee. His phone beeped with a reply and he read it—

 _Got the same call. Don't know much. But I guess I'll see you soon._

Surrendering to the fact that heading to work early was inevitable this morning, Kurt went back to the bedroom to wake Jane up.

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _FBI NYO_  
 _21 August_  
 _7:20 am_

"Relationships with Kazahrus have never been better," Weitz explained, the briefing had begun twenty minutes ago and he was yet to reach the point or the reason why he dragged them all out of bed, "having Vanya at the throne has really helped the United States."

Weitz clicked on his laptop and a new image popped up on the screen of the US base in the Kazahrussian city of Maresk.

"is there is a purpose for this painfully boring show and tell?" Rich interrupted.

Weitz looked at him and then towards Reade. "What's he doing here? I didn't ask—"

"I'm a valuable member of this team, Matty," Rich replied, "you want the team's help, you get me, too."

"Cut to the chase, Weitz," Reade said, "what's the emergency?"

"King Vanya has been getting death threats," Weitz said.

"So? Politicians get death threats all the time," Tasha said, "they have people who know how to deal with them usually. What's this task force got to do with it?"

Weitz nodded. "That's true," he said, "and Vanya's advisors have all reassured him that he should not worry about them, that his secret service can take care of him."

"Exactly," Tasha said, "so why are we here?"

"Vanya still has many enemies among the highest ranking members of his government. Some are loyalists to his uncle and some are just unhappy that an American kid has appeared out of nowhere and claimed their throne. Had he been groomed by his father and brought up in the royal court, he would be welcomed as their king. But that is not the case."

Weitz looked around the room. "Yasmine and Vanya know there are not many people around them they can trust," Weitz said, "and so they've reached out to you guys for a favor."

"A favor?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, they've asked for your help in investigating these threats, find out if there's anything real there and find out who's behind them if that's the case," Weitz said.

"He wants us to do that?" Reade asked.

"Well yes," Weitz replied, "they asked for this team and specifically you two," he said as he looked towards Jane and Kurt. "He said he wanted people he can trust and could not think of anyone else he trusted his life with."

"So we're just supposed to go to Kazahrus and run an investigation?" Jane asked.

Weitz shook his head. "Not that easy," Weitz replied, "they're already not happy with Vanya being more American than Kazahrussian and will feel that this is a huge interference from us in their internal affairs. This won't sit well at all and we're currently working a huge deal with them, economically and politically it would be suicide to publicly do this."

"What are you saying?" Patterson asked.

"This has to be done covertly," Weitz said, "no one outside this room can know about any of it. Jane and Kurt will have to go undercover."

"What are you thinking?" Reade asked.

"I'll leave the details of the operation to you," Weitz said as he gathered his documents, "I expect a proposal from you by midday."

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _FBI NYO_  
 _21 August_  
 _1:00 pm_

"The American Community School of Zvetna had to fire their middle school gym teacher last week for drunk driving," Patterson said as the team and Weitz gathered around SIOC to discuss their plan, "and they've been desperately looking for a new one before the school year starts next week."

"So the plan is that Weller goes undercover as their new gym teacher," Rich explained, "this gives him legitimate reason to enter the country and a believable cover with papers that would be easy to process."

"And what about Jane?" Wait asked, "getting a visa for a new foreign employee's spouse is not that easy in Kazahrus. It usually takes up to six months after the foreigner's own residency is issued to allow for their spouse to join them."

"That's why we had to find a job for Jane as well," Patterson said.

"And what better job than a sexy librarian!" Rich beamed.

"Rich!" Kurt's voice threatened him.

"I'm sorry," Rich said, "but the only other position at the school that was vacant was librarian. Honestly!"

Weitz took a few minutes going over the proposal, mumbling and scribbling a few notes as he did. "Ok," he said, "just make sure you take care of these few things," he said as he handed the file to Reade, "and be ready by tomorrow night."

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _Weller Residence_  
 _21 August_  
 _8:30 pm_

Jane and Kurt stood side by side in the kitchen, washing and drying the dishes from their dinner.

"Patterson emailed the documents of our cover identities," Kurt said, "and our back stories."

"Looks like we've got some studying to do tonight," Jane said, "each file is like seventy pages long," she laughed, "she did not leave out a single detail."

Kurt chuckled as she handed him a plate. "This could be fun," he mused, "being undercover in a foreign country, just the two of us."

Jane nodded and looked up at him with a smile, "yeah, it could."

"Also, the whole sexy librarian thing—"

Kurt laughed and jumped back when Jane grabbed the dish towel and hit him with it.

"Rich is a very horrible influence on you!" She laughed.

"Trust me," he replied huskily, "I did not need Rich's help for this fantasy.

He took the towel out of her hand, tossing it back on the kitchen counter and grabbing her waist, lifting her effortlessly and carrying her off towards their bedroom.

* * *

 **AN:** Ok, so here it is. The first chapter... what do you guys think? Worth taking this forward?


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Thank you so much for all the enthusiastic reviews! I'm glad you guys are excited about this fic because I really am! Here's the second chapter. Jane and Kurt make the trip to Kazahrus and they get straight to work!

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _Weller Residence_  
 _21 August_  
 _6:30 am_

Kurt woke up to an empty bed. They'd spent a few hours the night before studying their undercover identities and were bound to leave for Kazahrus later in the afternoon. They still had to pass by the office to go over a few things, but Reade had set the meeting a little later that morning, allowing them time to pack.

He made his way out of the bedroom and it took him a minute to find Jane— eventually locating her on the terrace with her coffee.

"Everything ok?" He said as he walked up to her.

She turned around and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah," she said, "just didn't want to miss the sunrise. It's one of my favorite things about this apartment and who knows how long we'll be—"

"Not long," he interrupted as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. "It's a simple investigation," he said, "find out if the threat on Vanya is real and come back. It'll mostly be analysis and paperwork."

Jane nodded and rested back against him.

"If you don't want to do this, Jane, you don't have to," Kurt added, "you contract with the FBI is with the tattoo task force, no one can force you to do this."

She nodded again and turned around in his arms. "No, I want to do this," she said, "no one is forcing me. I want to help Vanya and Yasmine."

Kurt studied her for a moment before returning her smile and leaning down to brush his lips against hers sweetly.

"Plus," she whispered playfully, "I'd hate that you go alone and find another sexy librarian to partner up with."

Kurt laughed and shook his head, pressing his lips against hers again for a moment.

"Never," he replied sincerely, "plus, the back up plan if you couldn't make it was that Rich comes as the librarian, so I doubt you would have had anything to worry about."

Jane laughed. "Are you kidding? He's the one person at the FBI who doesn't care that you're married and will still hit on you every chance he gets!"

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _JFK Airport_  
 _22 August_  
 _6:00 pm_

"And where are you off to?" the customs officer sitting behind the bullet proof window asked.

"Kazahrus via Paris," Jane replied confidently.

"Ah, Paris," the young lady said, "any chance you've got some time in Paris for a short romantic getaway?" She pried as she looked over Jane's shoulder at Kurt.

"Afraid not," Kurt replied, "just the short layover before our flight to Zvetna."

"Such a shame," the officer said as she stamped their passports, "Paris is the most romantic city in the world. Ever been before?"

Jane and Kurt shared a look. They had been, separately, when she on the run and he was always a few steps behind her. "I'm afraid not," Jane replied abruptly.

"Well, if you ever get the chance, you have to go," the officer said as she slid their passports back to them, "have a safe trip."

Both Jane and Kurt sighed in relief as they grabbed their passports and walked out of Passport Control. This was definitely not their first undercover mission, nor was it their first one in a foreign country. But it was the first time they were traveling as civilians and not on an FBI plane. They had to leave the US as civilians and enter Kazahrus as such to avoid any red flags or cause any scene. That was crucial to the mission.

As far as anyone knew, they were two American citizens with new jobs in a foreign country. From this point on, they were not feds, they were civilians.

Kurt placed his passport in the inside pocket of his jacket and reached for Jane's hand. "Are you ready?" He asked as he laced his fingers through hers.

She looked at him and nodded, squeezing his hand in return, "let's do this," she replied.

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _Zvetna International Airport_  
 _23 August_  
 _5:00 pm_

After over fifteen hours of travel, Jane and Kurt found themselves being escorted by a Kazahrussian Immigration officer into a neon lit small room. They took a seat and waited as instructed. With their passports and documents in their hands, they had nothing to worry about. This was part of what they had been expecting and prepped for.

Anyone entering Kazahrus on a work visa had to first be cleared by an immigration agent to insure their paperwork was in order and receive the proper documentation required to enter the country and consequently gain their official, legal work permit and residency. And the anxious waiting was part of the process.

"Hello," a thin, tall man said as he walked into the room, "my name is Lt. Luka Rebic."

He sat down across from Jane and Kurt and without any time wasted, he gestured for them to hand over their paperwork. "Ah, Americans," he said, "my favorite. Our new king is America," he said with a smirk, "did you know that?"

Jane and Kurt just smiled, understanding the intention behind the question, trying to bring up politics to cause a reaction.

"I think I heard something about that," Jane said, "we're not really into politics."

"Good for you," Luka said as he looked up and studied them closely, shifting his gaze between them and their paperwork, "brings nothing but headache and stress— the politics. Unfortunately for me, it is my job. Anyway, let's get started."

Luka looked at Jane and smiled. "You must be Jane Kruger," he said.

Jane nodded and felt Kurt brush his fingers against her knee. "And you must be her husband, Kurt Kruger," Luka added, "a tongue twister your name."

Kurt ignored the comment and nodded. "Yes, that's me," he confirmed.

"It says here you've both been employed by the American School," Luka said, his eyebrows rising as he did, "fancy school. Very expensive. Me, my children go to public Kazahrussian schools. Nothing wrong with our schools."

"We've heard great things about the educational institutes in Kazahrus," Kurt said, "your Royal Medical College is among the best in the world."

Luka nodded proudly. "Some of the best doctors in Europe have graduated from our college," he said, "so, you're both teachers. How convenient that you both get job in Kazahrus."

"Well, when the opportunity came up, we had to take it," Jane said, "it is not every day that we both find such an exciting opportunity. Teaching abroad has always been a dream for us," she added, "a learning opportunity for us to grow and widen our horizons."

"Yes, yes," Luka said as he flipped through the papers and filled in information, "very lucky for you to get this opportunity in Kazahrus. Has either of you ever been to Kazahrus before? For business or pleasure?"

"No, first time," Kurt admitted.

"And does either of you speak Russian?" The lieutenant asked.

"I do," Jane confessed, "just beginner level but I manage. I'm looking forward to learning more and becoming more comfortable with it."

"Not an easy language," Luka commented, "how about you, P.E. teacher?"

"Afraid not," Kurt replied, "I'm terrible at languages. I'm going to have to depend on her, at least in the beginning. I'd love to pick up enough to make it on our own."

"Well, lucky for you, most Kazahrussians speak at least a little English," Luka replied, "you will survive. You won't starve at least. You can always order a hamburger!"

Luke let out a bellowing laugh at his own joke and wiped his eyes.

The questioning resumed for another half an hour. He asked them about their work history, travel history, how they met, their hobbies, their lifestyle— all information Patterson and Rich had diligently detailed for them in their undercover packets. Finally, the lieutenant stamped the final page and slid the file towards them.

"You have to take this document to your US embassy within three days," he explained, "there you will have to fill in a few documents and then the HR at your place of employment should be able to process the rest of your paperwork to issue your long term employment visa. Three days. You can't stay any longer on your temporary visa. Any delays and you will be instantly deported."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _US Embassy_  
 _24 August_  
 _10:30 am_

Jane and Kurt wasted no time visiting the embassy. Partly to expedite the paperwork process but mostly because it was the location of their first secret meeting with Vanya.

As teachers at a local school, Kurt and Jane Kruger had no reason to officially visit with the king, and so any meeting with him had to be done in secret. The first one had been set for noon at the US embassy on the 24th. Vanya had an official state meeting with the ambassador at 11:00 and then at 11:30, Jane and Kurt would be taken in to see him secretly. It was not going to be easy to meet him often, but the team had managed to design a few covert meetings between them. For most of the communication though, it was going to be done mostly through Alexi— whose children conveniently went to the same school school Jane and Kurt were teaching at— and a handler they were going to be introduced to today.

Jane and Kurt stood in line outside the main entrance of the embassy. The guards only let in ten people at a time, and although the line wasn't too long, the morning sun was hot and they were both exhausted. Jane turned to face Kurt and dropped her forehead against his chest, yawning widely. "I'm exhausted," she mumbled and he gently rubbed the back of her neck.

"It's the jet lag," he said softly.

"I don't like it," she said, burrowing in his embrace, "make it stop."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _US Embassy Interview Room #3_  
 _24 August_  
 _11:30 am_

"This way please," a young embassy employee led Jane and Kurt towards one of the interview room. For anyone watching them, everything looked normal, just another pair of applicants going through the process of getting their paperwork done.

No one had to know that through some back corridors, the King was being accompanied to meet these two random American ex-pats.

The first to meet them, however, was not Vanya or his mother. As Jane and Kurt waited, someone else walked in. He was a tall, handsome man, in his mid forties, with a commanding presence and charisma. "Good morning," he said as he extended his hand towards Kurt, "I'm Alexi Broskov," he introduced himself, "you must be Agent Weller and Ms. Doe."

Kurt and Jane returned the greeting and shook the man's hand, taking a seat when he gestured for them to do so.

"I'm King Vanya's primary advisor," Alexi spoke with a charming smile and confidence.

"Nice to meet you," Kurt said.

"The king and his mother will be here shortly, but I thought we'd go over some logistics before they arrive so as not to waste their time," Alexi said.

"As you know, most of your contact will be with a handler," Alexi explained, "she'll be here shortly. Her name is Anna Dano. She is a history teacher at the school you're in and also a consultant at the Ministry of Culture with access to the king and myself."

"Also, your colleagues at the FBI have been coordinating with our IT team and the home you'll be staying at has been prepped with everything that you need to conduct your investigation and be in contact with them. Do you have any questions?"

Jane and Kurt both shook their heads. "Seems like everything's under control and been taken care of," Kurt said, "thank you, Mr. Broskov."

"Alexi, please," the other man said, "we'll be seeing a lot of each other for the foreseeable future. There's no need to be so formal."

"Of course," Kurt replied just as the back door opened and Jane and Kurt were finally greeted by familiar faces.

"You guys made it!" Vanya exclaimed, sounding more the awestruck teenager they'd met in New York than the king of a sovereign nation, "it's so good to see you!"

"Your Majesty," Kurt smiled as he approached to greet him. Vanya cringed and shook his head. "God no," he said, "if anyone gets to call me just Vanya it's you two."

Vanya hugged both Jane and Kurt and then Yasmine did the same.

"It's so good to see you both," Jane said.

"It's good to see you," Yasmine replied, smiling at both, "you both look great."

"So do you," Jane said.

They had a very short time to catch up, their brief time together better spent on the case at hand, and while Vanya personally handed Kurt a folder of all the physical letters he'd received— a lot of the death threats came through other mediums, but the hand written letters were the more terrifying ones— Jane took the moment to talk to Yasmine.

"You must be so proud of him," Jane said, thinking of her own teenaged daughter, "he's doing so well."

Yasmine smiled and looked at Vanya. "He is," Yasmine replied, "he's grown up so much in the past few months. Sometimes I can't even recognize him."

"You did well with him," Jane told her, reaching over and squeezing her shoulder.

"Thank you," Yasmine replied.

They had to end their meeting within a few minutes. The press was waiting for the King in the media room and Jane and Kurt had no reason to spend more than twenty minutes in the interview room. And so with abrupt farewells, Kurt and Jane left the room. With their paperwork in order and the address to their new home the school was renting for them, Jane and Kurt went back to the hotel they'd spent the night at and checked out, ready to officially start this case.

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _12 Serafina St._  
 _24 August_  
 _4:00pm_

Their temporary new home was in the middle of a quiet idyllic street on the edge of the busy capital city. Getting there hadn't been hard. As Alexi explained and then Anna gave them further details, there was a bus that ran from the heart of downtown and stopped at the corner of their street. There was also another that stopped by the school where they were due to go tomorrow, to finalize their paperwork and attend the orientation for new faculty.

After quickly unpacking and a tour of the house, they finally settled in the home office Alexi had arranged to be set up. They were due to a meeting with the team in half an hour. They had grabbed sandwiches on their way for lunch and had found out that their kitchen and fridge had been packed with enough groceries to take care of them for at least a week. They made a note to thank Vanya and Yasmine later.

"Do you want some coffee before our meeting? We still have some time," Kurt suggested.

"Sure," Jane said, "need a hand?"

Kurt shook his head, "I got it."

"Ok," Jane said, "I'm going to check out the roof top then. Anna said there was a great view from up there."

And Jane was not mistaken. She stood in awe at the small roof top terrace their little house had and looked around her. In one direction, they had uninterrupted views towards the Memorial Park and its endless greenery, and in the other direction, they had a view of the mountains that surrounded the city.

"Sunset is going to be gorgeous from up here," she heard Kurt's voice as he came up to join her with their coffees.

"Mmm," she said, as she turned around and accepted her cup.

For a few minutes, they just stood there, taking in the view and the calm quiet of the residential street. The placed the cups on the stone ledge and stood side by side looking out.

"It's so peaceful," Jane whispered, snaking one arm around Kurt's waist, and he reciprocated by wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She rested her head against his shoulder and was about to ask how long they had before their meeting with the team when Kurt's phone buzzed with a message from Patterson.

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _12 Serafina St._  
 _24 August_  
 _4:30pm_

"Hey you guys!" Patterson's face and voice were the first to appear on their screen when they signed in onto the FBI platform from their computer, "how is it going?"

"Good, we're good," Jane replied with a smile.

"Janie? Did you get my email?" Rich popped up from behind Patterson as the rest of the team started to appear in the frame.

"Yes, I did," Jane grumbled, "please stop sending me emails."

"Does that mean you won't take them into consideration?" Rich pouted.

"No!"

"What did you send her, Rich?" Tasha sighed next to him.

"Nothing! Just suggestions for outfits," Rich said innocently, "I came across them while researching—"

He was interrupted when Tasha's hand came hitting the back of his head. "I swear I'll find a reason to throw you in a black site," she hissed at him.

"You can't do that!" Rich yelped, turning to Reade, "can she do that?"

Reade rolled his eyes and ignored them both. He turned towards the screen, trying to refocus the meeting back to the case.

"Ok, so we're gone through all the threats Vanya has received an organized them by category," he said.

"Most of the threats he's been getting has been on the internet, of course," Patterson said, "we've categorized those according to social media platform comments and posts, forums and chat boards and online articles and videos."

"There are also the threats that are via print media," Tasha added, "newspapers, magazines, flyers and… graffiti."

"Graffiti is print media?" Kurt laughed.

"It wasn't worth giving it its own category," Tasha explained.

"Good point," Kurt replied.

"There's also the threats he's received on TV, whether through political talk shows, or street interviews," Rich said, "those are less colorful and direct, but still, they exist."

"And finally there are these letters that have Yasmine most worried," Reade said.

"And she's right to be," Tasha said.

"We'll run everything else through an algorithm I've developed that will separate the real threats from the general and typical noise that people make," Patterson said, "especially online, but these letters are different."

"We've gone through them," Kurt said, "and we agree."

"These threats are very much real. Someone wants Vanya dead," Jane said, "and we need to know who's behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Summary:** Jane and Kurt make some significant progress in the case but they also manage to make new enemies as they do. Also they go to a fancy gala and they dance and flirt.

 **AN:** I have to admit I had a lot of trouble getting started on this chapter. It just refused to cooperate, so I hope the end product is not too horrible.

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _12 Serafina St._  
 _8 September_  
 _7:30pm_

"Jane? Are you—" Kurt called out to her as he walked up the stairs to the bedroom, his sentence cut short when he caught a glimpse of her, "wow… you look… wow."

She looked over her shoulder from where she stood in front of the full length mirror putting the final touches on her look.

"Not too ridiculous in this dress?" She teased, the playful glint in her eyes leaving him speechless.

He stalled hard and slowly walked towards her. "That's not the word I would use," he replied, despite his dry tongue, bringing back memories of the first time he'd seen her in a get up like that.

He closed the distance between them, resting his hands on her waist and gently kissing the exposed bare shoulder. "Let me help you with that," he murmured against her skin when she reached for the necklace. He carefully took it from her, unclasping it and placing it around her neck, in a reverse of what he had also done that first time in the Hamptons.

But just as intimate— more so even— with his whole body pressed against hers and his fingers lingering longer and with more purpose against her skin.

"Kurt, no," she whispered almost without conviction when his lips returned to her shoulder, "we don't have time and I don't want you to mess up the make up. It took hours to put it all on."

They'd agreed that part of their cover required that she not be fully tattooed. She'd been keeping the bird tattoo on her neck exposed and her hands because it was more practical to do so, but for the past two weeks they'd been in Kazahrus, she'd been covering everything else.

It was easy to do so at the school, just making sure she wore clothes that covered everything, but in preparing for tonight and the dress she was wearing, she'd had to apply the cover up make up she usually wore when doing undercover work with the FBI.

"We do have time," Kurt whispered, his lips moving from her shoulder to her neck, settling against the bird tattoo, "the taxi won't be here for another half an hour and no one at the gala would notice if we're a few minutes late."

She tried to argue with him but then his lips found that spot below her jaw and she found herself pressing back against him. She was helpless when he did that. She was about to turn around in his arms when his phone rang.

It was Patterson. They were supposed to have a quick debrief with the team before they left for the gala, and she laughed when Kurt groaned audibly instead of an answer the phone properly.

It was their sixteenth day in Kazahrus and their sixteenth day undercover as school teacher and librarian while investigating the death threats against the young King Vanya. During their first week, most of their time was occupied with setting up their operation and integrating their handler, Anna, into the case. The second week, school officially started and after the new faculty orientation, Jane and Kurt found themselves especially comfortable in their roles. They made little contact in the school, with Kurt in the middle school building and Jane at the library, but it was the perfect cover to coordinate with Anna.

So far, they had managed to eliminate most of the online threats while having a handful of people still under observation. They'd given a few names to Anna and after interrogating most of them, only a few seemed to present a minimal threat but still for precautions sake, they were kept under observation. Anna's main contact was Alexi, who had, as promised, taken charge of the operation and taken the threats seriously.

But while the online threats, and most other threats, had been considered minor or insignificant, the initial assessment on the letters— the and written and hand delivered threats that Vanya had received— was still the same. Those were not fake and someone was after Vanya. Analysts who had gone over them, as well a she team, all came to the same conclusion. There were a few things about them that put the team on high alert and their main objective now was to find out who was behind them. The list of suspects was long, among them Vanya's uncle and loyalists to him, a group that had been for decades opposed to the monarchy and finally seeing an opportunity to strike now that they had a young, inexperienced king, as well as a distant cousin who believed she was more worthy of the throne than Vanya— her blood more royal as she claimed— and the only reason she believed she was being overlooked was an archaic law about unwed females not eligible to take the throne.

And tonight, they would get to see Vanya and Yasmine again, after their initial brief encounter at the embassy two weeks prior. The US embassy held an annual gala for American expats living and working in Kazahrus and while it had always been a glamorous events, this year was promising to be the biggest yet. With their King holding dual citizenship, the US embassy went all out, inviting him and receiving his confirmation that he would attend, after years of his father sending representatives and delegates on his behalf instead.

Jane and Kurt were attending as just another couple of expats, along with many of their colleagues from the school, which along with the embassy and the university, hired most of the expats living in Zvetna. They were to be introduced to the king and his mother just like everyone else, but then at some point during the event, they would be getting their private one on one to update him on the case.

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _US Embassy_  
 _Reception Hall_  
 _8 September_  
 _9:00pm_

"Here you go," Kurt said as he handed Jane her drink, his hand slipping around her waist as he joined her and the group of people she was with. He recognized a few of them from the school. The older couple though he did not recognize.

"Thank you," Jane replied, looking up at him with a smile, "Kurt, this is Sylvester and Marge Spalding," she said introducing the older couple, "Sylvester teaches high school Physics and Marge is the curator of the National Art Museum."

Kurt shook hands with both of them as the rest of the group excused themselves and dispersed.

"How long have you two been in Kazahrus?" Kurt asked.

"Thirty years," Marge replied, "at least I've been here thirty years. Sylvester beats me at thirty one. He's the longest serving expat."

Sylvester laughed. "Guilty as charged," he said.

"Wow," Jane said, "that's a pretty long time."

"What can I say," Sylvester replied, "I came here on a two year teaching exchange program, fell in love, with both the city and the young artist who lived in the apartment across from me, and never left."

His wife next to him blushed and leaned into him. Jane and Kurt smiled as they watched. Almost thirty years together seemed like something out of a fairytale.

"How about you two?" Marge asked them.

Jane chuckled, "two weeks since we arrived in Zvetna," she admitted.

Marge and Sylvester chuckled as well. "And how long have you been together?" Marge asked, "if you don't mind me—"

"Of course not," Kurt told her politely, "just over three years."

"Oh, you're practically newlyweds," Sylvester teased.

Jane and Kurt laughed. "This does feel like a second honeymoon," Jane admitted.

"Well, you two make the most of it," Sylvester said, and then with a wink to Kurt he added, "and this means taking this beautiful woman to the dance floor instead of standing in this corner chatting with a couple of old people."

"Yes, sir," Kurt relied with a smile, nodding towards the two courteously and leading Jane towards the dance floor.

"Thirty years together," Jane mused as the started dancing, looking up at Kurt, "can you imagine?"

He shook his head and for a moment said nothing, just watched her, before he finally smiled as well. "I just hope I'm as lucky," he whispered as she felt his hold on her tighten, pulling her closer to him.

"Me too," she whispered her reply, resting her head against his chest.

"I just hope you won't get bored of me," he suddenly said, after a few moments of them just swaying to the music.

Taken back by his question, Jane pulled away, abruptly pausing their dance and looked at him. "Kurt I would never— why would you think I'd get bored of you?" She said. A part of her thought he could be joking, but a louder voice in her head told her that was a true fear of his.

Kurt shrugged, his hands falling from her sides and he looked away. "I don't know," he murmured, "our whole life together is built on solving cases, one long adventure, an adrenaline rush… what if as we get older… when all this comes to an end… what if I'm too boring for you?"

Jane's eyes widened with shock at his admission and without a second thought, she stepped forward, took his face in her hands and kissed him, a kiss that anyone would have considered a little inappropriate for such a public place. When they pulled back, she took his hands in hers, holding them tightly and pressed her forehead against his.

"I'm not married to you because of our jobs. I'm not with you for the rush of our job," she said firmly, "I love you, Kurt Weller, and I will always love you and want to be with you. I want to spend our lives together, the next thirty and forty and fifty years and I don't care if we do it New York or in Kazahrus or in some lonely cabin in the middle of nowhere, planting our own tomatoes, brewing our own beer and sewing our own clothes."

He chuckled at that last part and she sighed in relief. He squeezed her hands gently and then released them, bringing them up to cradle her face, his thumbs brushing her cheeks and the guilt hitting him immediately when he saw the look in her eyes. He had not meant to hurt her with his words.

"We can get a dog," he whispered, smiling slowly and waiting for the frown to drop from her face, "a dog will keep things interesting."

She finally did smile and it was his turn to sigh. "I'm sorry about what I said," he apologized, "I love you too, so so much, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Good," Jane whispered, smiling sweetly as he leaned in to kiss her again.

"Ahem," a voice interrupted them and they pulled back awkwardly.

It was Alexi.

"Sorry about that," Alexi said, not looking one bit apologetic, "King Vanya will see you now."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _US Embassy_  
 _Private Office_  
 _8 September_  
 _9:30pm_

"What happened to your tattoos?"

It was often easy to forget that the young man in front of them was a ruling monarch and not just a teenager from New York.

Jane laughed. "We decided I'd cover them," she said, "they drew too much attention and we'd rather keep a low profile."

"Oh, that's actually pretty smart!" Vanya replied, "how are you guys doing? Settled in ok? Is the house good? You have everything you need?"

"Yes, thank you," Kurt replied, "and thanks for all the groceries when we got there. You guys didn't have to."

"It was our pleasure," Yasmine said, "the least we could do after all you guys are going through all this trouble."

"No trouble at all," Jane replied, "now, we know Alexi and Anna have been keeping you two updated but we wanted to do so too and ask you some questions."

"Of course," Vanya said.

The four of them were sitting around a small table with Alexi and Anna standing next to them.

"Can we have a few minutes alone?" Kurt asked, looking at Alexi.

The older man gave him a strange look. He and Anna were cleared, being as privy to this investigation as anyone else in the room. "Is that necessary? The King is not to be left—"

"It's ok, Alexi," Vanya said calmly yet firmly, "just a few minutes. Right?" He added as he glanced towards Kurt.

"Yeah," kurt replied, "you and Anna will be briefed on everything we discuss afterwards. We just need a few minutes with Vanya alone first."

Begrudgingly, Alexi accepted, throwing Jane and Kurt another disapproving look over his shoulder as he walked out.

"What's going on?" Yasmine asked after they left.

"Well as you know now, the hand written letters are the ones we're focused on," Jane said, "and whoever is behind them has access to the royal residence."

"You think Alexi—"

"But he was my father's most loyal companion," Vanya said, "he took six bullets for him on four different occasions. And he was the only one to back me taking the throne. He risked his reputation and career—"

"We're not saying it's him," Kurt replied, "what we're saying is that we are going to need to run back ground cheeks and vet everyone who has access in and out of the palace, from the guy who delivers your vegetables to the man who will take a bullet for you. You have to be diligent."

"Alexi is going to have a hard time accepting this," Jane said, "so we're going to have to go about it delicately. We understand you cannot afford to lose your closest and most dependable ally."

"But we also can't take any risks," Kurt added, "we're also going to have to do a check on you, Yasmine, as absurd as this sounds. I'm sorry."

Yasmine shook her head. "No, you're right," she said, "and this is why we wanted you two on the job."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _12 Serafina St._  
 _9 September_  
 _1:30am_

"Boy, am I glad there's no work tomorrow," Jane sighed as she walked into the house.

"Tell me about it," Kurt replied, standing next to her, allowing her to put a hand on his shoulder as she balanced herself to take off her heels.

"I miss my boots," she grumbled as she tossed the heels to the ground.

Kurt laughed and brought his hand around her waist. "Well, for what it's worth, you looked absolutely stunning tonight," he whispered as he softly kissed her cheek.

"Thank you," she replied, and then gasped when her brought his other hand under her knees and scooped her up.

Their laughter echoed through the house as he carried her upstairs to their bedroom.

But outside, there was no laughter to be heard in the black car that sat parked across the street from them. The two men inside watched the house marked 12 and its inhabitants carefully. They had very clear orders. And while they kept tabs on the two American teachers, their boss was planning something far more nefarious.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary:** Things aren't going as planned in Zvetna… less Jane and Kurt in this chapter as we spend some time with the rest of the team.

 **AN:** A little bit of timeline jumping in this as we go a bit back and forth. Hopefully the tags are clear and it doesn't get too confusing. Enjoy!

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _Edgar Reade's Apartment_  
 _23 September_  
 _4:20am_

The incessant ringing of his phone finally woke Reade up and he rubbed his eyes as he tried to read the name on the screen.

"Patterson? Are you—"

"Turn on the news right now," Patterson interrupted him, her voice shaking slightly.

"What—" Reade reached for the remote control and turn the TV on.

"— reports are saying the first explosion came at quarter to eleven local time, that's thirty five minutes ago, and three explosions followed at five minutes intervals after that," the newscaster said.

The images behind her were of a burning building and absolute mayhem.

And the text at the bottom of the screen read: Four explosions at the US Embassy in Zvetna, capital of Kazahrus. Reports claim at least 25 people injured. 2 Dead.

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _12 Serafina St._  
 _9 September_  
 _11:30am_

 _Two Weeks Earlier_

Jane and Kurt were not used to having a lazy morning, not even on a weekend. So, it was extra special to be able to sleep in late, have a lazy morning in bed and stay there long enough to plan for a leisurely weekend.

"So tell me more about that cabin in the middle of nowhere that we're going to live in," Kurt murmured absently as his lips traced the patterns on Jane's bare shoulder.

Her initial reply was a satisfied hum, closing her eyes and feeling her body relax further into the mattress.

"We have a fireplace, a nice big wood burning fireplace," she said, "and you get to spend hours in the afternoon chopping up wood out back… my very own sexy lumberjack…"

Kurt laughed, pushing the blanket down her back to expose more of her skin. "And what would you be doing while I'm out there chopping wood?"

"Well, I thought I could take up knitting," she replied, "that'll make Sarah very happy."

"You? Knitting?" Kurt laughed again and if she wasn't so relaxed, she'd elbowed him for his lack of belief in her.

"So, what do you want to do today?" He asked a few minutes later.

"Just… this…" she sighed happily.

"No complaints here," Kurt replied, "but I thought I'd heard you say something about the Saturday Farmer's Market you were dying to check out."

"Mmm, good point," she said, grumbling audibly as she turned around to lie on her back, smiling as he pushed back slightly, giving her space and hovering over her with a smile.

He leaned down and kissed her briefly. "Come on," he said, "let's get showered and dressed and off to the Farmer's Market. We can buy tomato seeds to start our own garden!"

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _Middle School Gym_  
 _American Community School_  
 _20 September_  
 _4:00pm_

"Alright, everyone, to the free throw line," aside from teaching gym class to the middle school grades, Kurt had also found himself coaching their boys basketball team, which if were honest, he'd admit he enjoyed very much.

The sound of sneakers and basketballs against the hardwood floor filled the gym as the boys ran from every corner of the court towards the free throw line.

"Coach Kruger?" The female voice came from the gym entrance, at the other end of where they gathered and all the boys looked over their shoulder towards it.

Kurt smiled as he saw Jane walk in. "Alright boys, start working on those free throws," he told them as he started walking towards Jane, "I'll just be a minute."

"Oh, yeah, you go do your thing, Coach K!" That was Mischa, the star player on the team, a lanky, skinny teenaged boy who lucky for him towered over all the other boys his age and made him the best player in their school district.

The other boys started giggling and snickering, until Kurt shot them another look over his shoulder and they immediately got in line.

"Hey," he said quietly as he got to Jane, "what are you doing here?"

"Do I need an excuse to come visit my husband?" Jane replied playfully.

"Of course not," Kurt said.

"Although… given the stench in this place… yeah you're right, I need a pretty good reason to walk into this horrible place," Jane laughed, "no but seriously, I do have a reason."

"What's going on?" Kurt asked worriedly.

"I got a call from the embassy," Jane said, "apparently they need us to pass by this week to sign some more paperwork…"

Kurt furrowed his brow. "I thought we'd signed everything," he said.

"Me too," Jane replied, "but I checked with HR and apparently it's standard procedure to be called back. There's always something that they miss or new papers that pop up during processing."

"Ok… let's just tell Patterson about this, just to make sure," Kurt said.

"Alright," Jane said, "I'll contact her. You go back to your stinky teenagers."

Kurt gave her a smile and waved her off, and then turned back to his team, who were definitely staring at Jane and not working on their free throws. "Damn, Coach K, you should totally ask her out," Mischa said, ignoring the glare his coach was giving him, "she's the hottest librarian this school has ever had!"

Kurt walked over to the young man slowly, with a calm, sinister smile on his face. "The hot librarian is my wife," Kurt said, "and even if she weren't so, you should learn to never objectify a woman like that."

"Alright boys," Kurt called out, "ten minutes of suicide runs! And you have you're friend Mischa here to thank for that!"

The sound of groans and grumbles were heard through the gym as the boys half heartedly made their way towards the baseline. Kurt didn't recognize the language, but he was sure the boys were letting Mischa know exactly how they felt about him in Russian.

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _FBI NYO_  
 _23 September_  
 _4:50 am_

It didn't take the team too long to make it to the NYO, not when the lives of their friends and the entire case were at risk.

"Have you managed to get in touch with either of them?" Reade asked impatiently.

"Not yet," Patterson replied, "still cant get through."

"It's normal," Tasha said, "cell service always goes down following explosions that big."

"I tried their house," Rich said, "nothing."

"Can you locate their phones? Track them? Anything?" Reade asked again.

Rich shook his head. "Like Tasha said," he replied, "service is down in the entire city. No cell service. No internet. Nothing."

"We're getting most of our information from news reports," Reade said in exasperation, "just like the rest of the world. How are we supposed to—"

"I just got off the phone with their neighbor, Megan,," Afreen interrupted Reade, "sorry, sir," she quickly apologized.

"No, go ahead, please" Reade said.

"I managed to call the landline at the house across from theirs," Afreen explained, "their neighbor said she thought she saw them leave the house a few hours ago. She said they'd been going to the Farmers Market on Saturdays."

"Ok, that's a good thing, right?" Rich asked hopefully.

Tasha shook her head. "There's no way she could know where they went," she said, "all we can confirm is that they weren't home at the time of the explosion."

"Any news on King Vanya's whereabouts?" Reade asked.

"Weitz is following up," Patterson said, gesturing towards the meeting room where Weitz was on his phone, pacing back and forth.

"Ok," Reade sighed, "as Weitz works on that, Rich, I need you to continue trying to get a hold of Jane and Kurt, find out where they are, do anything it takes."

Rich nodded. "You got it," he said.

"Patterson, I need you on the security cam footage from the embassy," he said, "those get uploaded every thirty minutes and the last upload was confirmed at 10:30am local time. We have access to them. Try to find… anything."

"And Tasha," he added, "you're on the original case file. Try to find anything that could help us. Go back all the way to the beginning, even the threats we ignored or passed as nonthreatening."

Tasha nodded. "Of course," she said.

"How can I help?" It was Keaton's voice that came from across the relatively empty SIOC.

"Keaton? What are you doing here?" Reade asked.

"Tasha updated me," he said.

"I thought we could use his help," she explained.

"Of course," Reade said, "if you can find out if there's been any intel or chatter about a planned attack on the US embassy in Zvetna… or anywhere else… if we can find out who's behind this. It could be completely unrelated to the case we're working."

"King Vanya is not the target," Weitz announced as he walked out and into SIOC, "he's on a three day tour of the countryside. It's been widely publicized for weeks now. He was visiting with some potato farmers when the bombs went off."

"Do you think it was an unrelated terrorist attack on a US embassy?" Reade asked.

Weitz shook his head. "We don't have enough intel at this point," he said, "all we can confirm is that Vanya was not the target."

"He may not have been," Patterson said, "but what if the explosions were targeting another person— or persons."

"What are you trying to say?" Tasha asked.

"I hate that I'm even saying this, but what if Jane and Kurt are the targets?" Patterson suggested.

"What? Why would anyone be targeting them?" Rich argued.

"And how would they know they'd be at the embassy?" Weitz added.

"Well, someone would want them dead if they were getting close to finding out who is behind the plot to kill Vanya," she said to Rich and then turned to face Weitz, "and they'd know they're at he embassy if they were the ones to get them there."

"I don't follow," Keaton said.

"Jane informed me of a call they got from the embassy during the week," Patterson said, "they were told they needed to pass by the embassy to file and sign a few more papers. They checked with the HR at the school and they said it was standard procedure so we didn't... we didn't backtrack or check in on the request or anything."

"So you're saying whoever called them was just setting them up? Bringing them to the embassy to target them?" Tasha asked.

"I think so, yes," Patterson replied.

"Let me double check on this phone call," Weitz said as he pulled out his cell, "I'll see who it came from."

"And while you're at," Reade said, "have someone bring in the HR from the school. If he or she cleared the request and made sure Jane and Kurt made it to the embassy then they could be in on it."

"Was Jane and Kurt's appointment today?" Tasha asked Patterson.

Patterson shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted.

What I don't get is why make a huge scene?" Rich wondered out loud, "if they just wanted to eliminate the two people who were getting close to them, then why not send someone to their house? They obviously know who they are and where they live?"

"To make a scene?" Keaton suggested, "to divert attention from the real objective? To distract everyone while they continued with their bigger plot? Nothing like an attack on the US embassy to distract the world's attention. With the number of casualties, it will be harder to view this as an assassination. And in the weeks that follow, the whole world and their king included will be focused on this. Their hope would be in his distraction he would forget about the threat on his own life, especially that he's so young and inexperienced."

"That's messes up," Rich sighed.

"Welcome to the real world," Keaton replied.

"Ok, ok," Reade said, "let's focus. Our main objective right now is to find Jane and Kurt."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _Serafina St. Bus Stop_  
 _9 September_  
 _4:00pm_

Jane and Kurt waited for the the woman in front of them and their young daughter to step off the bus. Just like them, they had gotten onto the buss at the Farmers Market, and like them, they were carrying quite a few bags from there.

"Careful Lilly," the woman said in English to the young girl as she hopped along the sidewalk.

The little girl suddenly stopped and turned around, causing Jane to walk into her. Jane carefully grabbed the little girl and steadied her.

"Prosti," the woman said as she rushed towards her daughter.

"Don't worry about it," Jane replied with a warm smile.

The woman looked up at Jane when she heard her American accent and the look on her face was of recognition. "Oh, you're the new couple who moved into number 12," the woman said, "I'm Megan. We live across the street from you."

With a sweet smile she put one of her bags down and extended a hand to shake. Jane took it and returned the smile.

"Hi," she said, "I'm Jane and this is my husband, Kurt." The three adults exchanged pleasantries while the young seven year old, stood between them and watched.

The team had run background checks on everyone on Jane and Kurt's street. The Delaney family in 11 Serafina street had been one of them. And they were cleared. But as they stood there meeting their new neighbors, Jane and Kurt made sure not to let on.

"Mommy?" The little girl tugged at her mother's shirt, "this is heavy."

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Megan said as she took the bag from her daughter.

"And who's this young lady?" Jane asked.

"I'm Lilly," the little girl said with a smile that exposed the missing front teeth.

The four of them walked together from the bus stop towards their houses and made small talk. The Delaneys were Welsh and had moved to Zvetna five years ago when her husband had gotten a job with one of the largest consulting firms in Eastern Europe. He traveled a lot as part of his job, and Megan worked as a dentist in a clinic downtown.

They spent the rest of the day with Megan and her daughter, and during the week they spent more and more time together, especially Jane and Megan— afternoons after work, chatting over coffee and taking Lilly to the park.

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _12 Serafina St._  
 _15 September_  
 _5:00pm_

They'd just gotten back from work and Jane went straight to the kitchen. She pulled a paper out of her bag and grabbed a magnet from the fridge.

"What's that?" Kurt asked as he saw her place the paper on the fridge.

"Lilly made me a drawing," Jane said, "she came over to give it to me in the library after her art class."

"That's sweet," Kurt said, walking over to take a closer look at it. He wrapped his arms around Jane's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, "she's got some talent."

Jane nodded. "Yeah, she does," Jane mused.

Kurt shifted slightly, pressing his lips to her jaw. "What's on your mind?" He asked her softly.

"Hmm?"

"You just seem a bit distracted," Kurt said.

"I was just thinking I wish the school had an art teacher position opening instead of librarian," she replied, "it would've been more fun."

"You would've been great at it too," Kurt told her.

They were silent for a moment before Kurt kissed her again. "But that's not it," he told her, "there's something else."

Jane sighed and closed her eyes. She knew there was no point lying to her. He just knew her too well. She turned around in his embrace.

"It's just that… spending all this time with Lilly this week," Jane said, biting her lip slightly and looking down, "it made me realize I miss Bee and Avery."

Kurt nodded and tightened his hold on her, pulling her closer and kissing her forehead.

"It also made me realize that…" she trailed off for a moment before she looked up at him, his gaze full of worry and concern.

"It made me realize that I want us to try again," she whispered, "I really want us to make a baby together."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _US Embassy_  
 _23 September_  
 _11:15am_

His chest felt tight— too tight— and he couldn't breathe. The air around him felt heavy and congested and thick. And beyond the deafening ringing in his ears, Kurt Weller could not hear anything else.

It took him a moment to gather his bearings and remember where he was. And when he opened his eyes, they were immediately filled with dust and smoke and they burned. He shut them tight, his ears still ringing, and realized that there was a stabbing pain in his side.

And that he could not move his leg. He tried to open his eyes again, this time using a hand to shield it from whatever that was around him, and as he slowly did so, he started to remember.

The embassy. They were at the embassy. They were supposed to have an appointment to handle some paperwork.

The ringing was slowly going away. But the sounds that were replacing it were not any better.

Screaming, crying, yelling— mostly in Russian— sirens, so many sirens, and so much more screaming.

The guard at the door had told them their names were not listed for any appointment at the embassy that day and they had asked him to make sure because they'd gotten two calls confirming the appointment over the past two days.

He tried to sit up and look around him. But there was only rubble. Rubble and debris and smoke and fire. No wonder he could not breathe. The pain in his side, he realized, was because of a slash across his abdomen. And his leg was pinned down by a fallen beam.

The guard had checked in with his bosses and their answer had been the same. There was no one expecting Jane and Kurt Kruger at the embassy.

And the, just as Jane was about to pull the phone out to show the guard the phone number—

An explosion.

There had been an explosion.

It had been a few floors up and he'd turned to look at Jane when—

There was another explosion.

And Jane—

Where was Jane? She had been right next to him when—

The third explosion.

The cut in his side didn't look to deep, and with a strength he didn't know where he'd found, he pushed the beam off of him and gotten up. He tried to put weight on his leg and it hurt— it hurt badly.

It's not broken, he told himself and then—

"Jane! JAAAAANNEEE!"

He looked around him and started to take in the chaos, the madness, the complete mayhem. He saw the paramedics, the firefighters, the police. He saw the victims, the bystanders with their smartphones and the journalists.

But he did not see Jane.

Kurt pushed through the crowds. He checked every face I front of him and every person still pinned down.

But he could not find Jane.

He pulled his phone out. No service. Of course.

"Jaaaaaaaaannnnnnnneeeeeee!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **Summary:** In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, Kurt searches for Jane as the team try to figure out who is behind it all.

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _FBI NYO_  
 _23 September_  
 _5:00 am_

"The call did not come from the embassy," Weitz announced as he hung up his phone, "no one from the embassy has been in touch with either Jane or Kurt. Whoever called them was—"

"Was just luring them there to assassinate them," Tasha said.

"Exactly," Weitz confirmed.

"That's not good," Reade murmured.

"Their cover's blown," Patterson added.

"Hate to be the one to bring this up," Keaton said, "but we haven't even located them yet. We don't know if—"

"They're not dead," Patterson said firmly.

"Anything on the CCTV from the embassy?" Reade asked.

"I'm running a face recognition algorithm," Afreen said, "if they were there, we'll find them. I just need a few minutes."

"I don't," Rich interrupted, "there they are." He pointed to the screen where he'd paused one of the feeds that clearly showed Jane and Kurt entering the embassy.

"How'd your algorithm work faster then mine?" Afreen asked as she typed into her tablet.

"I didn't use any program, my dear Afreen, I don't need any help spotting their beautiful faces anywhere," Rich sighed.

"Rich, focus," Reade said.

"What now?"

"Well, we know they were there before the bomb went off… now let's find out where they are now."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _US Embassy_  
 _23 September_  
 _11:40am_

Kurt was close to losing his mind. He pushed his way past the EMT's, past the people and the victims and the fallen debris as he searched for Jane. It was almost twenty minutes before he saw. She was lying on a gurney, motionless, with two EMT's standing above her.

"No," the word escaped his throat in a choked sob and suddenly the pain in his leg, and the rest of his body disappeared, and Kurt was running towards her.

"Jane! Jane!" Kurt cried as he practically pushed the EMT away.

"Stop! Ubiraysya s dorogi!" The EMT pushed Kurt away and went back to trying to resuscitate the unconscious Jane.

"That's my wife!" Kurt yelled at the poor young man who was only trying to help.

"Sir, please!" The EMT replied in English, "you have to let us help her first!"

A few seconds later, Jane's body jerked off the gurney with a loud gasp and Kurt was immediately by her side, gathering her in his arms. "Hey, hey," he whispered, "I got you."

He brushed the back of her head and felt the sticky blood there just as she gasped and hissed in pain. "I'm sorry," he whispered and slowly pulled back, "I'm sorry."

Jane's eyes were wide in confusion, her face covered in dust and ash, her breathing heavy and fast. She finally found Kurt's gaze and her breathing started to slow down.

"Sir, we have to take her to hospital," the EMT told Kurt, "you too. You don't look well."

Kurt nodded and managed to look away from Jane for a moment. "Just give us a minute," Kurt urged him.

Kurt watched the two EMT step back for a moment and then go ahead and start helping other people.

"What… what happened?" Jane mumbled, coughing to get the two words through.

"Bombs," Kurt said, "at least three."

Jane looked around her, studying the aftermath. "We need to make contact with the team," Kurt told her— having had slightly more time to process things— "cell phone service is down, so we need to find a landline or an internet connection. And we need to get out of here. The—"

"Reporters. Cameras," Jane said, starting to understand the situation, "we can't be caught on camera."

Kurt nodded. "And we also can't go to the hospital," Kurt said apologetically, "I know you need to get checked up, but—"

Jane pushed herself up into a sitting position. "No, I'm fine," she said, "I'm fine."

Kurt couldn't help but smile— at her stubbornness, at her resilience— and he leaned forward just enough to kiss her forehead and then helped her off the gurney. He held her steady as she tried to stand up, assessing the extent of her injuries and with a squick scan of their surroundings, they started walking away from the embassy, avoiding reporters and cameras and people standing with their phones as much as they could.

They finally made it into a quieter side street. "Thank god for old school pay phones," Kurt said as they found a phone booth at the street corner. He helped Jane sit down on the front steps of an adjacent building and went to the phone.

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _FBI NYO_  
 _23 September_  
 _5:05 am_

"Weller?" Patterson answered her phone when she saw the strange Kazarussian number on her phone, silently praying that it was in fact him.

"Patterson?"

"Oh thank god! Are you guys ok? We—"

"Just banged up a little bit," Kurt replied playing down their injuries.

"Hang on, let me put you on speaker," she said as the team gathered around.

"Kurt! So good to hear your voice," Reade said.

"Listen, guys, I think—"

"You've been made," Weitz said, "you two were the targets."

"Yeah, I figured as much," Kurt replied, "have you figured out who's behind this?"

"We're working on it," Tasha said.

"It has to be something in the files we sent you last night," Kurt replied, "and in the meantime, we need somewhere to stay."

"Kurt, Keaton here," Keaton joined the conversation, "I've got a safe house for you a short drive out of the city. Can you two make it?"

"Yes," Kurt replied, "we just need some medical supplies."

"The safe house has everything you need," Keaton said, "just get out of the city."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _23 September_  
 _12:15pm_

Jane watched Kurt coordinate with the team from where she sat, trying to focus on him mostly to ignore the pain she felt everywhere. Her head was throbbing, and she was pretty sure she had a concussion. The rest of her screamed in pain— a broken rib or two, come internal bleeding and her shoulder burned which made her believe it had been popped back into place when she had been unconscious.

It was a few minutes before Kurt returned to her side and she saw the way he favored one side as he moved, his hand pressing against his side and his one leg unable to carry any weight on it. They were in pretty bad shape and Jane hoped beyond anything that the team had some answers for them as to what was going on.

She shifted slightly to give him space to sit next to her and he explained what he'd just discussed with the team. What they had to do was lay low and get patched up while the others worked on figuring out who was behind everything. If the files they had sent them last night were as revealing as Jane and Kurt were thinking then they should find out the guilty party pretty quickly.

* * *

 _New York City, USA_  
 _FBI NYO_  
 _23 September_  
 _5:40 am_

Patterson pulled up a series of documents up on the screen as she read the email Jane and Kurt had sent her the night before.

"What are these?" Rich asked when images of old newspaper clippings popped up on the screen.

"They're articles from the student paper at the Royal College of Kazahrus from over thirty five years ago," Patterson said.

"Why would Jane and Kurt think these were important?" Tasha asked as she moved forward to read them.

"They read like anti-royal family rants," Reade said, "how were these even published?"

"Well, usually you can get anything to pass in those unofficial student publications," Patterson said, "especially if publishing under a fake name."

"These are pretty… whoever wrote these really hates the royal family," Tasha said, "who was it?"

"They're of course published under a fake name," Patterson said, "unless Elmer Fudd and Foghorn Leghorn really attended in the Royal College of Kazahrus in the eighties."

"Can you track it down and find out who these two really were?" Weitz asked.

"It's gonna take some doing," Patterson admitted, "but we're on it."

* * *

 _Outside Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _CIA Safe house_  
 _23 September_  
 _1:20pm_

It took them some time, but Jane and Kurt finally managed to make it to the safe house, unfollowed and undetected. They helped each other up the steps of the house— a small secluded cabin surrounded by a green field. Had they not been in the precarious situation they were in, they would've paused to appreciate the idyllic setting, but all they could think about was to get inside and get out of sight.

As Keaton had promised, the safe house was stocked with everything they needed from food and water, medical supplies, clothes and all the tech they needed. They had ditched their phones in the city and once they made their way inside, Kurt grabbed the burner and texted the team to let them know they were safe.

He set up the medical kit on the coffee table as Jane filled them two glasses of water and made her way painfully back to him. "I could've gotten those," he told her as she set them down.

"Yeah, because you're in such better shape than I am," she teased.

Technically, he was, and it didn't take much to convince her he'd take care of her injuries before she returned the favor. He carefully cleaned the cut on the back of her head and bandaged it, luckily it did not need any stitches. She had a few more cuts on her face and arms, all of which he gently cleaned and bandaged.

"How's your head?" He asked.

"It's fine," she replied, "I don't think there's any serious damage."

"Are you sure?" He asked again and she just smiled and took the washcloth from him. She nodded as she started to slowly clean his face, careful to avoid his cuts and bruises.

"We need to put your arm in a sling," he said.

"We will," she said, "but after I take care of your injuries."

"I'm fine," he said, "I can get to them myself."

She brushed her hand against his cheek. "I'm sure you can," she said, shaking her head sarcastically as she grabbed the hem of his shirt and started pulling at it.

Her point was immediately proven when he hissed in pain, the act of taking the shirt off alone too much for him. The cut along his side was deeper than he'd pretended it to be and Jane felt sick when she saw just how much blood he'd lost.

"Kurt! How could you—"

"It's ok," he whispered, "it's not as bad as it looks."

"You're such a terrible liar," she said as she shifted to grab the supplies she needed. She worked in silence, cleaning the cut and stitching it.

She felt his hand on her cheek, his thumb brushing away a tear she had not realized had escaped. She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with more tears.

"Someone tried to kill us," she whispered in a cracking voice, "I know this happens almost every day but this just…"

"It felt so real," Kurt said, "it was so close."

She nodded against his hand and he moved closer, pulling her almost all the way into his lap.

"The past few weeks have been so quiet and so… normal, I guess I got taken away by it," she admitted it, "I was happy pretending we had normal lives. I'm sorry—"

He shook his head and leaned in to press his lips against her forehead. "Don't apologize," he said, "there's nothing to apologize for."

"I liked it," she continued, "I liked it a lot— and I know it's not our real life but… it felt good. But now it's all caught up with us."

"I know," he whispered and pulled her against her chest, holding her close as they both finally got a chance to catch their breath and let the events of the day take their toll.

"What do you say we get out of these clothes? There's a bathroom in there we can clean up and get changed before the team call us back," Kurt said and he felt her nod against.

He got up slowly and helped her to her feet, holding her face in his hands and gently kissing her.

"This will all be over soon," he said, "I promise."

* * *

 _Outside Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _CIA Safe house_  
 _23 September_  
 _4:00pm_

They had managed to get the connection with the team up and running just in time for Patterson's call, and the tech expert wasted no time diving right into her findings when they picked.

"It took some digging but we figured it out," she announced proudly.

"Those old articles you found were all we needed," Rich added, "you guys are incredible."

"What did you find?" Kurt asked.

"So, those articles were written and published under fake names and it was almost impossible to figure out who was behind them just from the names," Patterson said.

"We contacted the editor of the publication from when they came out and he just said that students were allowed to send it whatever they wanted," Rich explained, "quality journalism, I tell you. Apparently, some students just slipped things under his dorm door in the middle of the night most of the time."

"So how did you—"

"The language used in those articles was very… whoever wrote them was not just an angry rebellious teen," Patterson said, "it's extremely structured and specific and not just a random rant. There was something behind it."

"And so we looked into the more vocal and famous current Kazahrussian enemies of the royal family," Rich said, "but didn't exactly find anyone."

"How is any of this useful?" Kurt mumbled.

"Getting there," Patterson smiled and then clocked on her tablet to send them a picture.

"Meet Professor Andrew Welder from NYU's Political Science department," Rich announced.

"Or, as he was previously known, Andriy Veldev, registered student at the Royal College of Kazahrus between 1978 and 1982," Patterson said, "he moved to the United States for his graduate studies and has been here since. He is the proud author of the People's Democratic Manifesto for a Greater Kazahrus."

"Or what should have been entitled The Royal Family are the Absolute Ickiest and I Hate Them," Rich joked.

"So, he's the one behind all this?" Kurt asked.

"We have him in custody right now," Patterson said, "Reade is interrogating him. But that's not the best part. Guess who his roommate was while he was in college?"

"I really don't want to guess," Kurt sighed, "please just tell us."

"It was none other than Alexi Broskov."

* * *

 **AN:** IT WAS ALEXI ALL ALONG! Ok, so who guessed that it was him? Anyone?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary:** Jane and Kurt's adventure in Kazahrus finally comes to an end.  
 **AN:** Well, this is it. The final chapter. Thank you to everyone who read and stuck around with this little fic. I really hope you enjoyed it!

* * *

 _Outside Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _CIA Safe house_  
 _26 September_  
 _8:00am_

It was almost seventy hours since Patterson informed them of Alexi's involvement, and since then, the conspiracy had more or less come unraveled thanks to the team in New York and Anna and her team in Zvetna. It had not taken much to convince Jane and Kurt to stay low during that time. They were still targets and they were in no condition to be out in the field. Keaton had arranged for an American doctor to come check in on them the next morning and he had confirmed that despite what it looked like, their injuries only needed some rest and a few painkillers and would heal on their own. A CIA team was almost immediately mobilized to come into Zvetna from the Ukraine to help take down Alexi and his co-conspirators.

Jane and Kurt kept up to date with the case but mostly just stayed at the safe house and recuperated. As it turned out, the conspiracy was a three decade old master plan to bring down the monarchy from the inside. Alexi, Andriy and their comrades had been working diligently for almost thirty years, infiltrating almost every branch of the government, embedding themselves in all the strategic positions to help them in a coup. Unfortunately, much like Vanya's uncle, they had not anticipated the emergence of the young heir and that had put all their plans out of order.

But that morning, as he slowly woke up, the political unraveling of this European nation was the last thing on Kurt's mind. After three days, he could finally say his leg had completely healed, and after three days, he could confidentially say that both he and Jane had had a full nights sleep. The first night had been the worst, neither finding a comfortable position to sleep, both painfully tossing and turning before they had any access to pain killers.

But that night they had both finally enjoyed a full night's sleep. Kurt lay on his side, one of the few times when he woke up before her, and watched Jane as she slept. She looked so peaceful, and so beautiful despite the bruises that covered her skin. He hated to wake her but could not resist brushing a stray hair of her face and with that she started to stir awake.

She mumbled something, but kept her eyes closed, moving just slightly closer to him and burrowing against his chest. He smiled and gently kissed her forehead, bringing his arm back around her and pulling her closer. For a few minutes, he just watched her, a smile never leaving his lips and he fought the urge to fall back asleep himself.

He rarely got to see her like this— so calm, so peaceful, so unburdened by everything in her past. They'd overcome so much since they'd met. Their lives— separately and together— far from being the easiest or void of turmoil or tragedy, but somehow, she always found the strength, for herself and everyone around her, to fight on, to face it all with hope and with faith of something better. She didn't always believe in something better for herself— citing penance and past sins— but she always believed in it for others, and yet, with every step, he tried to remind her that she deserved it as much as everyone else if not more so.

He was lost in thought, lost in watching her, when her voice brought him back. "What time is it?" she whispered hoarsely, shifting just slightly to look up at him with eyes still half open.

"Not time to wake up yet," he replied sweetly.

She retuned his smile and dropped her head back against his chest, wrapping her arm around him and hugging him closely.

"Good," she whispered her reply, "I'm not ready to wake up from this."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _Kazahrussian Parliament_  
 _King's Chambers_  
 _1 October_  
 _1:00pm_

"I wish we could do something more official," Vanya said as he sat down across from Jane and Kurt next to his mother, "but no one can know the FBI was involved in exposing this."

Jane and Kurt shook their heads and smiled. "We understand," Jane said, "we never came into this looking for anything more than to help you."

The country was preparing to properly honor the agents who had officially solved this case, and those agents could not be Americans. On the surface, and as far as everyone knew, this operation was led by the Kazahrussian Intelligence, and those agents were to be honored with the country's most prestigious medals later that afternoon in a most exquisite event.

As for the two people and their team who really solved this case, they were to be kept hidden from it all. So to show his gratitude, Vanya had invited Jane and Kurt to this private meeting in his office. Instead of shiny medals and an orchestra, they were celebrating over burgers and shakes— which as far Vanya was concerned was the real celebration.

"We're just really proud of you," Kurt said, "and of what you're doing."

They'd been with Vanya and Yasmine for almost three hours now and that time had been spent with Vanya telling them of his plans. Unraveling the conspiracy had taught him a valuable lesson and had taught the country one too. In a speech the day before, after exposing the conspiracy, Vanya had went on to explain that the system of absolute monarchy that his family had been ruling the country with for centuries should come to an end. He promised drastic reforms and changes and plans to take the country into the future with a more democratic and fair regime.

Already in those few days, Vanya and his new board of advisors had penned a number of amendments to the constitution as well as over a dozen new proposals for the parliament to study.

"There's one more thing," Vanya said as he dipped a French fry into the ketchup, "I'm going back to school."

"You are?" Jane asked proudly.

Vanya nodded, "yeah, I was two semesters away from graduating, and I plan to do that," he said, "I'm already working on transferring my class credits and courses to be able to register next semester here."

"That's great, Vanya," Jane said, "that's really great."

"We know you guys must be eager to get back home," Yasmine said, "but we were hoping you'd stay a few more days. We know we can never repay you for what you've done, but we have a little gift for you."

* * *

 _Zvetna, Kazahrus_  
 _Hyatt Regency Hotel_  
 _Royal Suite_  
 _1 October_  
 _7:00pm_

"I don't know what this bathrobe is made from but it is the softest thing I've ever felt," Jane sighed as she stepped out of the bathroom of the surreally lavish suite they had been invited to spend the rest of the week at— Vanya and Yasmine's last gift for them. And while they were more than ready to put an end to this case and go back home, they could not resist the offer. The hotel was the most exquisite in Eastern Europe, and the room they were offered, on the forty second floor of the hotel, overlooked the entire city and they just had to take Vanya up on his offer.

"I don't think I'm ever going to take it off," she added as she walked across the bedroom into the living room space of their suite where Kurt was on the couch watching the ceremony TV.

Kurt chuckled and stood up, reaching over to take her hand and pull her to him. "That's a shame," he said, "because I was looking at the bed over there and thinking of all the things we could do to have fun, but they all involve you taking off that robe."

He tugged at the edge of the belt that looped around her waist playfully, bringing her closer and nuzzling her neck.

"Oh, yeah?" She whispered, sighing as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him closer.

"It would be a shame to waste such a nice big bed," he replied, undoing the knot and letting the belt fall.

"You're absolutely right," she said, pulling back just enough to bring her lips to his.

The kiss was passionate, needy and she was pulling him towards the bed as he clumsily tried to push the bathrobe off her shoulders. They urgently tore at each other's clothes as they moved towards the bed, and they were almost there when his phone rang.

"Ignore it," she whispered against his lips and for a moment he considered doing just that as he wrapped his arm around her now bare waist and began to pull her up, her legs immediately going around his hips..

But then it rang again, and she pulled back, her breath heavy as she rested her forehead against his and reached into his pocket to pull the phone out, his hands busy holding her close. "It's Patterson," Jane sighed as she handed him the phone and slid her legs down, immediately dropping down to sit on the edge of the bed. She pulled the bathrobe back up, just slightly covering her as she chuckled watching Kurt try to regain his breath before he answered.

"Yeah, Patterson," he finally answered the phone, sitting down next to Jane and stubbornly pushing the robe back off her shoulder. She laughed and shook her head at him.

"Kurt, we just got a huge break in the tattoo data base," Patterson said, skipping the pleasantries, "you need to come back. There's a plane for you waiting to leave in two hours. See you soon!"


End file.
